Foreign minister: Iran’s enriched uranium stocks exceed 300kg

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the country has increased the level of its low-enriched uranium production to over 300 kilograms as had been already announced by the country in line with paragraphs 26 and 36 of a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Zarif made the remarks on Monday while answering a question by Iran’s ISNA news agency on the sidelines of a ceremony in the central Iranian city of Natanz.

“According to my information, Iran has surpassed the 300kg limit [in producing low-enriched uranium] and we had already announced [that we were planning to do] this,” Iran’s top diplomat said.

He added, “According to what has been announced, we have said very clearly what we are doing and consider this as part of our rights as per the JCPOA.”

Iran’s foreign minister added that the country had already announced that if steps taken by Europeans to compensate any possible losses to Iran following unilateral withdrawal of the US from the JCPOA were not adequate, it would take steps to reduce its commitments in return.

“We already announced that measures taken by Europeans have not been sufficient, and as the Islamic Republic had announced, we will implement the second stage of reducing our commitments. The first stage is going on both with regard to [the enriched] uranium stocks and heavy water stocks, and the next stage has been announced and will be implemented,” Tasnim news agency quoted Zarif as saying.

Meanwhile, the IRIB news agency also quoted Zarif as saying that the second stage is about the enrichment level, which currently stands at 3.67 percent.

According to IRNA, Zarif said that in a letter penned by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to the remaining signatories of the JCPOA, Iran had clearly noted that if Europeans took necessary steps to fulfill their commitments, Iran’s measures to reduce its JCPOA commitments would be reversible.

“However, if they do not take necessary measures, we have been entitled since last year, in accordance with Paragraph 36 of the JCPOA, to take our own appropriate steps,” Iran’s foreign minister said.